per·se·ver·ance[pur-suh-veer-uhns]–noun

On Sunday the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Championship, a first in franchise history. It took MVP Dirk Nowitzki thirteen years to reach his goal. Thirteen years. That only includes his time with the Mavericks and doesn't include all the hard work he did to get into the NBA. How many of us have ever shown that kind of diligence and drive in our lifetime?

If I look back over the last thirteen years, the direction of my life has changed drastically. In 2008 I decided to pursue writing as more than a hobby. Though I am now published, my long term goal is to have my writing pay the bills so I can do it full time.

This requires me to write a lot more books. With a day job, a mom job, and wife job, time is not always on my side. The last several weeks I felt like I was getting behind. Spread too thin. Not doing any of my roles justice.

Que the need for perseverance ~ a steady persistance in a course of action. To quote Mavs owner Mark Cuban:

“It doesn’t happen overnight. There’s no quick solutions. There’s not a single template for winning the championship. If there was, everybody would do it.”

There may not be a single template for winning, but I gaurantee that every template has perseverance written on it somewhere.

My eleven year old son is preparing to test for his black belt, and now that we are getting down to the last two weeks of training, his stress level is rising and at times he wants to give up. I'm trying to teach him perseverance ~ to keep going even when he gets discouraged. It's a hard lesson to learn at eleven, but if learned, will serve him well all of his life.

There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream. ~Author Unknown

My hat is off to Dirk and the Mavs. I'm thrilled for their accomplishment, and look to it as an example for both me and my son.

Monday, June 6, 2011

A fellow writer (shout out to Susan Isik) is hosting a #ToBeReMo June Reading Challenge. The goal is to knock out some of your To Be Read Pile in the month of June.

I committed to 4-6 books this month and have finished two. YAY!!

For a list of books I'm reading, check out my "currently-reading" list on Goodreads - shown on the lower left side of my blog. (BTW, if you're an avid reader and you're not on Goodreads ~ Join! ~ And friend me!)

What about you? What books are in your To Be Read pile for the summer? I'm looking for suggestions!